This is our first year homeschooling (kindergarten and first grade). We have been at it for 12 weeks and pretty much have a system down. My problem is that my first grader can do absolutely nothing on her own!! And when I am sitting there with her she takes sooooo long doing assignments that I know she can do. She can't even read a one page story fluently without getting distracted after every word (which means that she is constantly loosing her place). I end up spending an entire day sitting at the table with her. At first I thought that I was giving her too much work but I don't think 2 worksheets for math and phonics is too much for a first grader. This means that my kindergartener gets no where near the required amount of my attention for school because the first grader gets too distracted with anyone else there. After I lose it with my oldest out of sheer frustration (the kid is brilliant but you wouldn't know it from watching our school day) she will usually come back about an hour later and do everything right in a timely manner.

I've heard that the first year is the hardest but this is getting down right ridiculous. I'm so tired and emotionally exhausted, I don't know what to do. Any suggestions and encouragement to keep going would be a God-send.

I am just starting and I talked to a lady in my area today for some encouragement. She has 9 kids and homeschooled from day 1. Her oldest is 17 and youngest is 2! She said along the way she has gotten discouraged many times and wondered if she was doing the right thing. As recent as last week she was so discouraged but she said she keeps praying and God continues to show her it is all worth it. Her son just took his pre PSAT test today and almost got a perfect score. She was so excited. I haven't experienced the frustrations yet but she did make me feel better about my choice.

I just started homeschooling a 7 year old boy and a 9 1/2 year old boy six weeks ago. And the younger one does get distracted. This is what I did. I put together a schedule where we are doing a particular subject for 15 or 30 minutes--not any longer. When I am working with one child, the other one is playing an educational computer game. It has worked well, and just this week, my younger son has taken on extra handwriting pages during his handwriting time.

My 8yo son has the same problem, (they both do) in math. I have taken to bribing him sometimes. I will help him to make sure he knows how to do the problems, then he gets a penny for every problem he does without my help. THis realy helps. THe other suggestion is to let her pick a space to do the work she can do on her own. My son does handwriting in the truck listening to the radio, and math on the floor under the table. It may be unconventional, but we're homeschoolers.

1. Make sure this curriculum teaches the information in a way the child can learn. How does your child learn best? Auditorily, kinesthetically, or by watching? Can you add manipulatives to the math to make it easier to understand?

2. Give your 1st grader a list of what must be done in school. Then, tell him/her that the work must be done before playing/tv/computer time and see what happens.

3. Is this child a morning or afternoon person? Could your child simply not be quite awake enough to concentrate on seatwork? Could you assign chores (something moving around) or PE (an exercise routine or video) before seatwork?

My son (age 10) takes a very long time to complete anything. So I do what robinsegg mentioned, and state what needs doing each day. The work gets done first. If he doesn't complete it he gets no free time. If its not done that day then it goes over into the next day and if needed we use the weekend.

He also has a planner which he can write down what needs doing and cross it off as it gets completed. For younger students perhaps something fun like a chart with stickers?

I also make sure he has very little to distract him. He also likes to just "talk" about anything not schoolwork related lol. I've had to be firm and not let him draw me into a conversation. I always say we can chat later, right now its schoolwork.

Its not 100%. I have to accept that he doesn't like actual workpages...reports, math sheets etc. I try to incorporate more hands on stuff because thats what he likes. And I make sure I pick topics that work for him. For example he loves learning about the Roman Empire so thats on our school list this year.

Good luck.

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.-Goethe